Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Turn that frown upside down!

My headspace has been a little down lately as I’ve been concerned over the state of my hip. I’ve been for two ART sessions so far and have been stretching and foam rolling. There is no pain walking or riding my bike. Every time I’ve had to hustle across a cross walk I can feel the pain. But only when I’m trying to move quickly. What’s up with that? The original plan for tomorrow was to run for 2.5 hours tomorrow morning but after a hustle for the train this afternoon I knew I couldn’t do it. The pain starts almost immediately.

I almost wanted to cry while I was on the phone with Angie, but afterward I realized that I needed to focus on what I could do. And gosh darn it, I could ride! Luckily Mother Nature was on my side for the first time this week.

Just as a side story about Mother Nature NOT being on my side earlier this week? We had a crazy hail storm roll through town Monday soon after lunch. Hail the size of golf balls. Let’s just say that my car has a new aerodynamic dimply exterior. And while I am still waiting to hear back from my insurance adjustor apparently dent repair shops are booked through September. Efffff….. And on Tuesday it rained and rained and rained….so there was no outdoor riding.

Anyhow, as soon as I made it back home after work I changed into cycling gear and headed out. My plan was to ride out to Cochrane, get in a few hill repeats up the big hill, then head home. It is about 16K from my house to the edge of Cochrane. I spent my time riding out there in aero and feeling good. Then it was time to tackle the hill! The hill was repaved over winter and it is in great shape now. There is still some gravel on the shoulder though, so I had to watch out for that. I managed to get in three repeats up the hill, about 2K of climbing, and each repeat was pretty evenly paced. It was then time to head home along 1A. On my final repeat I was passed up the hill by a guy and I managed to catch him on the flats along the way back. I am definitely a stronger rider on the flats than I am on hills. He saw me approaching and he kept looking over his shoulder, seeing how fast I was coming. When I realized I was almost right on his tail he started getting up and out of his seat to try to gain some power and fend me off. It didn’t work. I totally blew past him and chicked him! It was awesome! It just goes to prove that flats are indeed my thing…

Anyhow, it was a great ride on a beautiful day out in Calgary. And I’ll keep doing what I can to make my hip feel better. In the meantime, I can still focus on cycling and swimming, and I’ll keep my run fitness up with the super fun and exciting elliptical.

14 comments:

so sorry you've had a bit of rough time recently but that's to be expected when you're working this hard - give yourself a break. If the running is not working right now just do your runs and your swimming for a week or so I'm sure you will be fine..

You flipped it around -- way to go Leana!! And way to CHICK that guy!!! Hahahahahahahah!!

That is so hilarious that he kept looking over his shoulder too -- man, he would have turned into a pillar of salt if these were biblical times. Hahahahahahahaha!!

The elliptical isn't so bad -- I spent about two months doing that and water running. Like you, I decided to focus on what I could do...I wasn't activating my glutes when I ran, so I used the water running time as time to teach my body how to run with my glutes.

On the elliptical I felt hilarious -- you can really get that thing going. Hahahahaha!!

Good for you staying positive and embracing the biking and swimming for now. Hopefully you will be back on the road (on your FEET) again soon. In the meantime, awesome ride and way to chick that dude!!!

Bugger about the hip Leana!! But keep your chin up and keep listening well to your body and I'm sure you will heal up in no time. And the best part about triathlon is that you still have other sports to focus on! :) Way to chick that guy too!! :)

I think during these long training cycles there are ups and downs. Sounds like you're persevering quite well and keeping a positive attitude.

I TOTALLY understand what it's like to not be able to train to the full extent you want to be training. Until this week, I hadn't run in 6 weeks!! It's amazing though how fitness pops right back since we are doing so many other things. Take care of yourself, you still have time to let your body heal before doing unnecessary damage.

I had to laugh at the guy trying to stay in front. That sort of thing is futile. The weather has been brutal for getting out on the bike this year, hasn't it. Sheesh.

Getting pain can be frustrating but you're dealing with it the right way. Doing what you can, resting the activity that causes the pain. Staying positive mentally about it, that's really important. Hope it goes well.